Accurately monitoring the curing of concrete can be critical on large construction projects. If a slab is not given sufficient time to cure, cracks can develop when the next slab is poured, which would ruin that section. RFID technology is helping ensure that doesn't happen.

With Congress failing to agree on immigration reform, President Barack Obama is promising to bring changes through executive actions. He has options that may have broad impacts on immigration generally, as well as the H-1B and green card visa systems.

Sometimes city governments issue zoning requirements prohibiting the construction of giant retail stores. The latest: Swansboro, North Carolina, where town residents are hotly debating an ordinance that, in effect, would ban construction of a Walmart.

The largest private employer in China and one of the biggest supply chain manufacturers in the world, Foxconn, announced it will soon start using robots to help assemble devices at its several sprawling factories across China. Apple, one of Foxconn's biggest partners to help assemble its iPhones, iPads, will be the first company to use the new service.

Top executives the world over spend a lot of time and effort to manage delays or disruptions in their companies' supply chains – with widely varying results.

Through exclusive education certificate programs and an extensive agenda of industry conferences, APICS Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advances supply chain and operations management innovation through research, publications, education and talent development, provides professionals with critical skills in sales and operations planning (S&OP) and supply chain risk management, two programs fundamental to a company’s ability to optimize their supply chains.

As the economy improves, transportation companies that struggled through the recession face a new challenge: providing customers with enough capacity and infrastructure to meet growing demand, says Ron Grove, vice president of supply-chain consulting with TZA.